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GeForce GTX 1050 3GB vs Radeon HD 7970 / R9 280X

CPUCPUGPUGPU
NVIDIA

GeForce GTX 1050 3GB

2018Core: 1392 MHzBoost: 1518 MHz
GTX family
·······
Buy on Amazon
VS
AMD

Radeon HD 7970 / R9 280X

2013Boost: 1000 MHz
Similar parts
·······
Buy on Amazon

GeForce GTX 1050 3GB vs Radeon HD 7970 / R9 280X Performance Spectrum

GeForce GTX 1050 3GB
3 GB 75
5,116
0.0%
brand logoGeForce MX350
brand logoGeForce GTX 650 Ti BOOST
brand logoGeForce GTX 570
brand logoGeForce MX550
brand logoGeForce GTX 780 Ti
brand logoGeForce RTX 2070 Super with Max-Q Design
brand logoGeForce RTX 3070 Ti Laptop GPU
brand logoRTX 4000 Ada Generation Laptop GPU
Radeon HD 7970 / R9 280X
3 GB 200
5,248
+2.6%
brand logoRadeon R7 260
brand logoRadeon RX 550 (móvel)
brand logoRadeon HD 7800-serie
brand logoRadeon R9 Nano
brand logoRadeon R9 Fury
brand logoRadeon RX 6600 LE
brand logoRadeon 8060S
brand logoRadeon RX 6800

About G3D Mark

G3D Mark is a standard benchmark that measures graphics performance in real-world gaming scenarios. It simplifies comparing cards from different brands, where higher scores directly correlate with better fps and smoother gaming experiences.

GeForce GTX 1050 3GB vs Radeon HD 7970 / R9 280X FPS Benchmarks

Predicted gaming performance across popular games. Tested paired with Ryzen 7 9800X3D to isolate GPU performance.

Search any supported game below to compare 1080p FPS for both components.

Path of Exile 2

Path of Exile 2

1080P
GeForce GTX 1050 3GB
low43 FPS
medium28 FPS
high21 FPS
ultra14 FPS
1080P
Radeon HD 7970 / R9 280X
low77 FPS
medium63 FPS
high50 FPS
ultra33 FPS
Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2

1080P
GeForce GTX 1050 3GB
low78 FPS
medium48 FPS
high36 FPS
ultra22 FPS
1080P
Radeon HD 7970 / R9 280X
low135 FPS
medium110 FPS
high90 FPS
ultra65 FPS
League of Legends

League of Legends

1080P
GeForce GTX 1050 3GB
low230 FPS
medium184 FPS
high153 FPS
ultra115 FPS
1080P
Radeon HD 7970 / R9 280X
low236 FPS
medium189 FPS
high157 FPS
ultra118 FPS
Valorant

Valorant

1080P
GeForce GTX 1050 3GB
low230 FPS
medium175 FPS
high153 FPS
ultra115 FPS
1080P
Radeon HD 7970 / R9 280X
low145 FPS
medium118 FPS
high102 FPS
ultra87 FPS
Among Us

Among Us

1080P
GeForce GTX 1050 3GB
low60 FPS
medium60 FPS
high60 FPS
ultra60 FPS
1080P
Radeon HD 7970 / R9 280X
low60 FPS
medium60 FPS
high60 FPS
ultra60 FPS
Apex Legends

Apex Legends

1080P
GeForce GTX 1050 3GB
low68 FPS
medium49 FPS
high33 FPS
ultra20 FPS
1080P
Radeon HD 7970 / R9 280X
low141 FPS
medium124 FPS
high101 FPS
ultra80 FPS
ARC Raiders

ARC Raiders

1080P
GeForce GTX 1050 3GB
low26 FPS
medium18 FPS
high9 FPS
ultra3 FPS
1080P
Radeon HD 7970 / R9 280X
low65 FPS
medium50 FPS
high41 FPS
ultra29 FPS
Baldur's Gate 3

Baldur's Gate 3

1080P
GeForce GTX 1050 3GB
low48 FPS
medium33 FPS
high27 FPS
ultra19 FPS
1080P
Radeon HD 7970 / R9 280X
low56 FPS
medium39 FPS
high31 FPS
ultra24 FPS
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

1080P
GeForce GTX 1050 3GB
low56 FPS
medium46 FPS
high32 FPS
ultra21 FPS
1080P
Radeon HD 7970 / R9 280X
low78 FPS
medium60 FPS
high51 FPS
ultra39 FPS
Call of Duty: Warzone

Call of Duty: Warzone

1080P
GeForce GTX 1050 3GB
low31 FPS
medium26 FPS
high13 FPS
ultra7 FPS
1080P
Radeon HD 7970 / R9 280X
low71 FPS
medium55 FPS
high44 FPS
ultra32 FPS
Check FPS with Custom Builds

GeForce GTX 1050 3GB vs Radeon HD 7970 / R9 280X: Pros, Cons & Final Verdict

See where each GPU makes more sense in practice: raw FPS, VRAM, features, power draw, pricing, and long-term headroom.

GeForce GTX 1050 3GB

2018

Why buy it

  • ✅Costs $170 less on MSRP ($129 MSRP vs $299 MSRP).
  • ✅Delivers 126% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 39.7 vs 17.6 G3D/$ ($129 MSRP vs $299 MSRP).
  • ✅Radeon HD 7970 / R9 280X is already obsolete for modern gaming, so GeForce GTX 1050 3GB is the less risky modern option long term.
  • ✅Draws 75W instead of 200W, a 125W reduction.
  • ✅Measures 145mm instead of 275mm, a 130mm shorter card that is more SFF-friendly.

Trade-offs

  • ❌Lower average FPS than Radeon HD 7970 / R9 280X across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.
  • ❌2018 hardware with 3 GB of VRAM already sits in legacy territory for modern games.

Radeon HD 7970 / R9 280X

2013

Why buy it

  • ✅50.1% more average FPS across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data.

Trade-offs

  • ❌2013 hardware with 3 GB of VRAM is already well past its comfortable zone for modern gaming, so it is hard to recommend now.
  • ❌
    131.8% HIGHER MSRP
    $299 MSRPvs$129 MSRP
  • ❌Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 17.6 vs 39.7 G3D/$ ($299 MSRP vs $129 MSRP).
  • ❌166.7% higher power demand at 200W vs 75W.
  • ❌89.7% longer card at 275mm vs 145mm.

Quick Answers

Which GPU is faster for gaming right now?
Radeon HD 7970 / R9 280X is the faster gaming card right now. In our data, it leads by 50.1% in average FPS across 50 tracked games in our benchmark data and by 2.6% in PassMark G3D (5,248 vs 5,116), so the answer here is pretty clean.
Which GPU is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond?
GeForce GTX 1050 3GB is the safer long-term pick for 2026 and beyond. The case is simple: a 14nm process instead of 28nm and a newer 2018 generation instead of 2013. That makes it the less risky pick as game demands keep moving.
Which GPU is the better buy today?
GeForce GTX 1050 3GB makes the most sense to buy today. It is $170 cheaper on MSRP at $129 vs $299, and it leads G3D-per-dollar by 126% (39.7 vs 17.6), which is enough to swing the recommendation its way. Radeon HD 7970 / R9 280X still makes more sense if max raw gaming performance matters more than value.

GeForce GTX 1050 3GB vs Radeon HD 7970 / R9 280X Technical Specifications

Side-by-side specs, architecture details, clocks, memory, power, and platform differences.

NVIDIA

GeForce GTX 1050 3GB

The GeForce GTX 1050 3GB is manufactured by NVIDIA. It was released in May 21 2018. It features the Pascal architecture. The core clock ranges from 1392 MHz to 1518 MHz. It has 768 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 75W. Manufactured using 14 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 5,116 points.

AMD

Radeon HD 7970 / R9 280X

The Radeon HD 7970 / R9 280X is manufactured by AMD. It was released in October 8 2013. It features the GCN 1.0 architecture. The boost clock speed is 1000 MHz. It has 2048 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 200W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 5,248 points. Launch price was $299.

⚡

Graphics Performance

The GeForce GTX 1050 3GB scores 5,116 and the Radeon HD 7970 / R9 280X reaches 5,248 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 2.6% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The GeForce GTX 1050 3GB is built on Pascal while the Radeon HD 7970 / R9 280X uses GCN 1.0, both on 14 nm vs 28 nm. Shader units: 768 (GeForce GTX 1050 3GB) vs 2,048 (Radeon HD 7970 / R9 280X). Raw compute: 2.332 TFLOPS (GeForce GTX 1050 3GB) vs 4.096 TFLOPS (Radeon HD 7970 / R9 280X). Boost clocks: 1518 MHz vs 1000 MHz.

FeatureGeForce GTX 1050 3GBRadeon HD 7970 / R9 280X
G3D Mark Score
5,116
5,248+3%
Architecture
Pascal
GCN 1.0
Process Node
14 nm
28 nm
Shading Units
768
2048+167%
Compute (TFLOPS)
2.332 TFLOPS
4.096 TFLOPS+76%
Boost Clock
1518 MHz+52%
1000 MHz
ROPs
24
32+33%
TMUs
48
128+167%
L1 Cache
288 KB
512 KB+78%
L2 Cache
768 KB
768 KB
✨

Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

The GeForce GTX 1050 3GB gets NVIDIA DLSS, which still tends to look cleaner in motion. The Radeon HD 7970 / R9 280X leans on FSR, which is flexible and widely supported, but usually a bit rougher at the same settings.

FeatureGeForce GTX 1050 3GBRadeon HD 7970 / R9 280X
Upscaling Tech
Upscaling support
FSR Upscaling / FSR 4
Frame Generation
Not Supported
Not Supported
Ray Reconstruction
No
No
Low Latency
NVIDIA Reflex
AMD Anti-Lag
💾

Video Memory (VRAM)

Both cards ship with 3 GB of GDDR5. Memory bandwidth: 84 GB/s (GeForce GTX 1050 3GB) vs 264 GB/s (Radeon HD 7970 / R9 280X) — a 214.3% advantage for the Radeon HD 7970 / R9 280X. Memory bus width is 96-bit on the GeForce GTX 1050 3GB and 384-bit on the Radeon HD 7970 / R9 280X.

FeatureGeForce GTX 1050 3GBRadeon HD 7970 / R9 280X
VRAM Capacity
3 GB
3 GB
Memory Type
GDDR5
GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth
84 GB/s
264 GB/s+214%
Bus Width
96-bit
384-bit+300%
L2 Cache
768 KB
768 KB
🖥️

Display & API Support

DirectX support: 12 (12_1) (GeForce GTX 1050 3GB) vs 12 (11_1) (Radeon HD 7970 / R9 280X). Vulkan: 1.3 vs 1.2. OpenGL: 4.6 vs 4.6. Maximum simultaneous displays: 3 vs 6.

FeatureGeForce GTX 1050 3GBRadeon HD 7970 / R9 280X
DirectX
12 (12_1)
12 (11_1)
Vulkan
1.3+8%
1.2
OpenGL
4.6
4.6
Max Displays
3
6+100%
🎬

Media & Encoding

Hardware encoder: NVENC 6.0 (GeForce GTX 1050 3GB) vs VCE 1.0 (Radeon HD 7970 / R9 280X). Decoder: NVDEC 3.0 vs UVD 3.2. Supported codecs: H.264,H.265,VP9 (GeForce GTX 1050 3GB) vs H.264,MPEG-2,VC-1,MPEG-4 (Radeon HD 7970 / R9 280X).

FeatureGeForce GTX 1050 3GBRadeon HD 7970 / R9 280X
Encoder
NVENC 6.0
VCE 1.0
Decoder
NVDEC 3.0
UVD 3.2
Codecs
H.264,H.265,VP9
H.264,MPEG-2,VC-1,MPEG-4
🔌

Power & Dimensions

The GeForce GTX 1050 3GB draws 75W versus the Radeon HD 7970 / R9 280X's 200W — a 90.9% difference. The GeForce GTX 1050 3GB is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 300W (GeForce GTX 1050 3GB) vs 500W (Radeon HD 7970 / R9 280X). Power connectors: None vs 6-pin + 8-pin. Card length: 145mm vs 275mm, occupying 2 vs 2 slots. Typical load temperature: 65 vs 80 C.

FeatureGeForce GTX 1050 3GBRadeon HD 7970 / R9 280X
TDP
75W-63%
200W
Recommended PSU
300W-40%
500W
Power Connector
None
6-pin + 8-pin
Length
145mm
275mm
Height
111mm
111mm
Slots
2
2
Temp (Load)
65-19%
80 C
Perf/Watt
68.2+160%
26.2
💰

Value Analysis

At launch, the GeForce GTX 1050 3GB came in at $129, while the Radeon HD 7970 / R9 280X launched at $299. On MSRP, GeForce GTX 1050 3GB was 56.9% cheaper ($170 less). Performance per dollar on MSRP (G3D Mark / MSRP): 39.7 (GeForce GTX 1050 3GB) vs 17.6 (Radeon HD 7970 / R9 280X) — the GeForce GTX 1050 3GB offers 125.6% better value. The newer card here is GeForce GTX 1050 3GB (2018 vs 2013).

FeatureGeForce GTX 1050 3GBRadeon HD 7970 / R9 280X
MSRP
$129-57%
$299
Performance per Dollar
39.7+126%
17.6
Codename
GP107
Tahiti
Release
May 21 2018
October 8 2013
Ranking
#440
#404
Search GeForce GTX 1050 3GB on AmazonSearch Radeon HD 7970 / R9 280X on Amazon

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